1 Samuel 24: Loving Your Enemies

Have you ever wanted to seek revenge on someone? Have you ever wanted to get even? It would seem like our culture seems to approve of revenge, or at least accepts it. Think about it in the movies and TV shows you watch. You cheer when the nerds get revenge on the jocks, the boy gets revenge on his ex-girlfriend with a new girlfriend, etc.  Even if our culture says revenge is OK, what about the Bible? Does the Bible say revenge is OK? I believe the Bible does not approve or accept revenge. Naturally, the first verse that comes to mind is Matthew 5:44, but it would be nice to more have a “case study” or a real-life event in the Bible that backs this verse up. How much more powerful would it be if it came from the Old Testament, years before Jesus preached on this earth! Well, 1 Samuel 24 is here for that reason. 1 Samuel 24 will be one of a few chapters in 1 Samuel that promotes loving your enemy. Now it wouldn’t surprise me if some of you reading know me well and you are thinking to yourself, “That’s eisegesis (reading one’s own beliefs into the text)! Your pushing your Anabaptist-Mennonite beliefs into this chapter!” If you are thinking that, I hope to show you by the end of the chapter, if the text is left to speak for itself, the text will preach loving your enemies. Therefore, I plan to teach this chapter using the Theological Interpretation of Scripture (T.I.S.) for my interpretation. Remember T.I.S. has God as the main character and looks at other parts of the Bible to make sure its interpretation is correct.

Chapter 24 picks up right where chapter 23 leaves the reader: with the setting. David is in the desert of En Gedi. En Gedi means “Spring of the [goat] kid.” Surrounded by the Judean Desert, En Gedi is an oasis in the desert. The surrounding Judean Desert makes the air hot, but the waters in En Gedi are nice and cool. The source of this cool water is a spring, which trickles down in a beautiful waterfall. The waterfall leaves behind pools of water throughout the mountain. Even to this day, En Gedi is treated like a beach for the locals and the tourists alike. A spring, a waterfall and pools aren’t the only things at En Gedi. En Gedi has a lot of broom trees, not mentioned in 1 Samuel 24, but mentioned in other parts of the Bible, such as 1 Kings 19:4, Job 30:4, and Psalm 120:4. There are also a lot of wild goats, known locally as ibex, which live in the caves. It’s hard to go a day without seeing an ibex. I was fortunate enough to go to En Gedi while I was touring Israel. So throughout this devotional, I will put pictures of En Gedi in so you can see what it looks like and imagine the story happening there.

 

The En Gedi waterfall.

David is hiding in En Gedi with 600 of his men. With a crowd so big, word eventually spreads, and it eventually reaches the ears of Saul. So Saul takes his own men, numbering 3,000, five times the amount, and heads out to search for David in En Gedi. Since En Gedi has so many caves, it makes sense to search them one by one, but it takes a while to do so. Eventually, nature calls for Saul. Literally, the Bible says in Hebrew that Saul “went to cover his feet.” This is a euphemism, which is switching out an offensive word or phrase for a nicer, less offensive one. The euphemism is a good one. When someone needs to go, the person squats, and the robe covers the feet. The only translation that keeps the phrase “cover his feet” is the King James Version. All the other translations replace it with a similar English euphemism. Saul went to relieve himself. Once again, it’s an accurate euphemism. A person does feel relieved afterwards. This euphemism is a better one than “go to the bathroom” as that phrase would insinuate an actual room, while Saul is going outside. (And yes, I just spent a whole paragraph talking about going to the bathroom/relieving oneself.)

 

The En Gedi waterfall.

Unknown to Saul, David and his men (at least some of them) are in the same cave, just farther back. David’s men get giddy. They say to David and each other, “This has to be it! The Lord promised that Saul would be in David’s hands. Today must be that day!” David’s men push David to kill Saul, but David doesn’t do it. Instead, he simply cuts off the corner of Saul’s robe. David does it so successfully that Saul does not even know what happened to him. As for why David merely cut off a piece of robe instead of killing Saul, it will become clear later on in the chapter.

 

A pool at En Gedi

Most people probably wouldn’t make a big deal of cutting off a corner of a garment. I bet David’s men didn’t make a big deal of it either. David, however, did make a big deal out of it. Literally, the Hebrews reads in 1 Samuel 24:5 “his heart smote him.” The NIV helps clear it up a bit better, saying that David was “conscience stricken.” The UBS Handbook on the First Book of Samuel says that phrase even fully doesn’t encompass what the original Hebrew phrase meant. It would translate it “he was sad in his heart” or “his heart felt sorrowful” because this conscious-strickenness is one that’s both intellectual and emotional. David quickly repents of his actions, declaring that even cutting off the robe’s corner was too much for him to do. David still recognizes Saul as the Lord’s anointed, the king over all of Israel, even after Samuel anointed him the next king of Israel. David is also concerned that he sent the wrong message to his men, who look up to him. David quickly rebukes anyone who even thinks of harming Saul. Saul then leaves, totally unaware of what happened to him.

Some of the pools of En Gedi, as seen from above

 

Shortly after Saul leaves, David calls back to Saul from the mouth of the cave. What surprise must have met Saul when Saul realizes that the man he’s hunting was in the cave with him the whole time! Then David waves around the cut corner in his hands. Even more surprise fell on Saul when he realizes how close David was to him. David wants Saul to not only to recognize how close David was to him, but David also wants Saul to recognize how close David was to killing him. David wants Saul to recognize this in order to prove to Saul that David himself is not a threat or danger to Saul. If David is not guilty of a wrongdoing against Saul, then Saul is guilty of a wrongdoing against David by pursuing him. Finally, David leaves it up to the Lord to be the judge. David’s request to God is the guilty be punished and the innocent be protected. But maybe David’s more concentrated on the protection of the innocent over the punishment of the guilty. David requests of Saul to stop pursuing him because David is innocent. Both Saul and David know Exodus 23:7, which says that killing an innocent person is a sin that God will not pardon (remember this is the Old Covenant, and that verse might be talking about a prosecutor or a judge who declares an innocent person guilty in court). By asking Saul to stop pursuing him, David is asking Saul to spare both David’s life and Saul’s own life. In the same manner, with the same caution, David will not kill Saul, but he will leave it up to the Lord.

There are many caves in En Gedi. Good hiding places. Maybe this is why David hid here from Saul
 

After a heart-felt moment from David, Saul responds with his own heart-wrenching moment. Hearing David’s voice alone leads Saul to tears. Saul knows what should have happened. Any time a person gets the chance to attack and kill his enemy, he does it! Saul knows that he would have. But David has let Saul go unharmed. David’s grace and mercy leads Saul to proclaim David as more righteous than him. It also leads Saul to confessing that his actions are bad and David’s are good. Saul finds himself blessing David and acknowledging David as the future king of Israel. With this acknowledgement, all Saul can do is ask David to be kind to his descendants and his family. It was a good request, for it was common practice in the Ancient Near East for new kings to kill the entire family of old kings. What I find interesting is that Saul does not ask David to spare his own life. For a split second, it seems like Saul is accepting the fate he deserves for his harsh treatment on David: his life. David grants Saul’s wish. He kind of has to. It’s very similar to the covenant David made with Jonathan.

The last verse of 1 Samuel 24 ends the chapter in an interesting way. It states that Saul went home, but David returned to hiding. Let’s start with Saul. This verse seems to actually be further proof that Saul’s change of heart was legitimate. Saul did not kill David on the spot, nor give him a head start just to pursue him further. Instead, Saul went home, like it’s all over. It seems like Saul has stopped hunting David. David, on the other hand, does not go home. David goes back into hiding. It would seem like David doesn’t trust Saul. But you can’t blame him. Remember, Saul threw a spear twice at David, and David tried to go back like nothing happened. But after the third time, David gave up and left. David’s already made the mistake of hanging around Saul longer than he should have and outstaying his welcome. This time, even if it’s just to be on the cautious side, David is staying his distance.

Alright, now let’s get our T.I.S. thinking caps on. So first, let’s see what God does as the main character. While the narrator makes no description of God moving, the people within the story do notice it. First, David’s men state that God has given Saul into David’s hands by leaving Saul so vulnerable. Second, David mentions God a lot, and each mention reveals something about God. David reminds his men, as well as the reader, that God did indeed anoint Saul, so he should still be treated as God’s anointed one. Next, David repeats his men’s philosophy to Saul: Saul was left so vulnerable because God has given David Saul. Then, near the end of his speech, David declares God to be the one who judges and the one who avenges. That right there, as found in 1 Samuel 24:12, is the key verse for this chapter. That’s what the reader needs to learn about God in this chapter that God is the one who judges and the one who avenges, or punishes.

The judge and punisher is not to be man, and David is the example of that. Just as David’s men point out, God has delivered Saul into David’s hands and has left Saul wide open for attack. God allows David to do whatever he pleases with Saul. I think that David must have recognized that this must be a test from God. Will David take matters into his own hands, or will he surrender that to the Lord? Previously, as seen in 1 Samuel 21, the reader would expect David to take matters into his own hand. But now, David has changed, and God is molding him into the person God wants him to be. Here, we learn that a man after God’s heart does not take judging or seeking revenge into his own hands, but relies on God for justice.

Therefore, the reader is invited to do the same thing. The Christian who wants to sanctify his or her life will learn to love his or her enemies and do good to them. It could be anybody. It could be the co-worker who always blames you for the problems. It could be the classmate who picks on you and bullies you. It could be the former friend who made you look bad. It could be the terrorist in the Middle East who hates your country. It could be the politician from the political party you oppose who just got elected into office. It should even be the murderers, rapists and robbers, whether they have committed crimes directly against you or not. God asks us not to seek revenge against these people, for revenge shows hate, not love. Revenge is circular, going back and forth, but love can end that. So we need to love our enemies. C.S. Lewis had a lot of good ideas for loving your enemy in his book Mere Christianity. Lewis said that a good start to loving your enemies is to something kind for them, even if you don’t feel like it. The more you do those nice, kind things, the more the negatives feelings will go away and positive feelings will replace them. I couldn’t agree more. So if someone curses at you or calls you a name, give a compliment or two back. If someone wrongs you, or seeks revenge on you, do not seek revenge back. Instead, do something nice back. I cannot emphasize enough how important this is for Christians this is how Jesus taught us to live counter-culturally in Matthew 5:44-47. It’s easy to teach loving family and friends, but really, that makes Christians no different from non-Christians because non-Christians even do that. What makes Christians stick out and be salt of the earth and the light of the world is that we love everyone, including our enemies. And don’t worry if an injustice comes from loving you enemies. Remember that the Lord God is the one who judges and avenges, so we can trust in him to do so.

But this isn’t the last we’ve heard about loving our enemies. We’re going to get a similar message out of the next chapter. David will once again be faced with taking vengeance into his own hands. Will David make the right choice again?